KARACHI: A sessions court has sentenced a man to 10-year rigorous imprisonment on charges of raping his daughter-in-law.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (Central) Zabiha Khattak found Irshad Ali guilty of subjecting his 19-year-old daughter-in-law to a sexual assault in April 2023 within the jurisdiction of the Bilal Colony police station.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on him and ruled that in case of default, he would suffer an additional six months in prison.

The judge observed: “It is an alarming situation that the accused, who is father-like (figure) for the victim, has committed rape of her daughter-in-law, which is not only (an) offence but also a sin so these types of crimes should be dealt with iron hand.”

She added, “Women are not safe in their own house, which is a stigma for the whole society.”

According to state prosecutor Hina Naz, the rape survivor deposed in her statement before the court that she had married in 2021, however, last year in April when her husband and mother-in-law were not home, the accused entered her room, overpowered her and subjected her to a sexual assault.

The survivor testified that he threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident. Later, the convict continued to harass her via text messages. When she confided it to her mother-in-law, she did not believe and asked her to maintain silence. A week later, she went to her parents’ home with her husband and disclosed the ordeal to her mother.

Later, a complaint was registered against the convict under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In the FIR, the survivor stated to the police that her father-in-law had committed the said offence multiple times. However, she chose to remain silent for the sake of her dignity and the sanctity of her home.

During the trial, the defence counsel made an allegation against the complainant and stated that his client was falsely implicated in that case. However, the court rejected the defence pleadings as they failed to submit substantial evidence to support their claim.

The court also noted that the messages exchanged between the survivor and accused, which were presented as evidence, were retrieved from the accused’s mobile phone. These messages revealed that “the victim tried to save her matrimonial relation and her home, but at last, she became fed up with this shameful act of the accused and reported the matter”, the court observed.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2024